Somerset and Devon based salon group SARAH HODGE HAIRDRESSING are coming to the end of their 25th year and they have certainly made it one to remember!

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Generation Gap

Our parents John and Teresa Whittaker handed over the day to day running of The Sarah Hodge Group of salons to us in 2009 to give themselves more time to enjoy life. And it has been a steep learning curve for all of us.

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SOMERSET HAIRDRESSING DUO WINS TOP NATIONAL AWARD

Multi award-winning hairdressing businesswomen Abby and Karly Whittaker, owners of the successful salon group Sarah Hodge, have beaten off nationwide opposition to win the AWARD FOR INNOVATION at top national hairdressing competition, Most Wanted.

Presented by Creative HEAD magazine, Most Wanted recognises the very best salons, teams and individuals in UK and Irish hairdressing. The AWARD FOR INNOVATION rewards an original hairdressing initiative that has proved successful for the salon business or the industry at large.

The judges, including Millie Kendal MBE from BeautyMART and Cos Sakkas from Toni&Guy, were impressed by the sisters’ invention, The Scrun – a new hair accessory innovation, designed to create, shape and hold your 'up do'. They liked its simplicity and how it makes “hair up” more accessible for consumers.

Abby and Karly were honoured at the annual Creative HEAD Most Wanted Grand Final, held on Monday 4 September 2017 at London's historic Guildhall. Hosted by Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan, the awards were attended by a 600-strong A-List crowd of people from the hair, fashion and media, who gathered to see the 15 Most Wanted trophies presented.

Along with their Most Wanted trophy, Abby and Karly have won an exclusive prize courtesy of category sponsor Cloud Nine, and publicity in Creative HEAD Magazine for the duration of their winning year.

SOMERSET HAIRDRESSING DUO WINS TOP NATIONAL AWARD

Multi award-winning hairdressing businesswomen Abby and Karly Whittaker, owners of the successful salon group Sarah Hodge, have beaten off nationwide opposition to win the AWARD FOR INNOVATION at top national hairdressing competition, Most Wanted.

Presented by Creative HEAD magazine, Most Wanted recognises the very best salons, teams and individuals in UK and Irish hairdressing. The AWARD FOR INNOVATION rewards an original hairdressing initiative that has proved successful for the salon business or the industry at large.

The judges, including Millie Kendal MBE from BeautyMART and Cos Sakkas from Toni&Guy, were impressed by the sisters’ invention, The Scrun – a new hair accessory innovation, designed to create, shape and hold your 'up do'. They liked its simplicity and how it makes “hair up” more accessible for consumers.

Abby and Karly were honoured at the annual Creative HEAD Most Wanted Grand Final, held on Monday 4 September 2017 at London's historic Guildhall. Hosted by Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan, the awards were attended by a 600-strong A-List crowd of people from the hair, fashion and media, who gathered to see the 15 Most Wanted trophies presented.

Along with their Most Wanted trophy, Abby and Karly have won an exclusive prize courtesy of category sponsor Cloud Nine, and publicity in Creative HEAD Magazine for the duration of their winning year.

Somerset Business Awards Finalist

Family business of the year finalist

Sarah Hodge have been nominated for the Albert Goodman Family Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Albert Goodman LLP.

We will find out if we will be crowned the winner at the exclusive black tie celebratory dinner, at Wellsprings Leisure Centre in Taunton next month.

Salon Award Winners

The Best Our Industry Has To Offer

Since their inception back in June, the Salon Business Awards have received a flurry of attention with interest from across the UK.

Thousands of entries made for stiff competition but the entrants were whittled down to five finalists in each category, which were announced in the October issue of Salon Business.

We are pleased to announce that we won the Education Salon Category Sponsored by Remi Cachet

London Fashion Week 2013

Karly and Abby were the session stylists for this..

For the yahoo article click here and for a youtube video on the event click here

October 2012

2012 British Hairdressing Business Awards

A HAIRDRESSING group in Taunton has scooped a prize at a top awards evening.Sarah Hodge Hairdressing won the Training Award, sponsored by Wella Professionals, at the 2012 British Hairdressing Business Awards at
London's Lancaster Hotel.

The team was one of six nationwide finalists, and was selected by a panel of industry experts and independent business judges for offering the best staff
training in the hairdressing industry.

The Sarah Hodge Group, celebrating its 25th year in business, was set up by John and Teresa Whittaker, and is now run by
their daughters, Abby and Karly.

Abby, director of Sarah Hodge Hairdressing, said: "We're so pleased and proud to be standing here collecting this award on behalf of our amazing team.
"We feel incredibly lucky to be able to carry on the amazing legacy our parents started 25 years ago, so, as you can imagine, winning a British Hairdressing
Business Award in this particular year makes it all the sweeter."

Celebrating 25 Years - Sarah Hodge

The year has been packed full of charity events to raise money for local charities including sponsored walks, Heart FM Makeover day, Salon coffee mornings, plus the salon group have been nominated for five industry awards, and won one coveted trophy - the Training Award in the British Hairdressing Business Awards for their work with the Hair and Beauty Academy and their dedication to the training of up and coming hairdressers.

The team have taken part backstage at London Fashion Week, on photographic shoots for national magazines, stage seminars at consumer events, and hosted seminars with leading hair icons for leading hair manufacturers Goldwell and KMS.

Abby & Karly Whittaker, Directors of Sarah Hodge Hairdressing said "We have had an amazing year! It started off with us wondering what we could possibly do to mark this important milestone in the history of our business. But we needn't have worried! As the year has gone on, we have found so many wonderful ways to celebrate with both our customers and our wonderful team"

It seems only fitting that this 25th year has also been one of the most successful for the group in national industry awards. They have been recognised for their efforts with nominations within the top awards for their business acumen; their exceptional training programme; and their artistic talent.

Including reaching the final of the Wales and South West Hairdresser of the Year Award at the glittering British Hairdressing Awards in November where they are one of only six finalists with their beautiful collection of images. (some shown above).

Generation Gap

They created a solid business and initially found it hard to let go, but we had worked in the company from a young age and everything our parents taught us was built towards this point. As the younger generation we could see where we could expand the business, but in the end we achieved it by not changing the existing brand, which has such a great reputation and heritage. In fact, we decided that launching a 'diffusion' salon group to run alongside the existing one would bring many advantages to the brand and we launched 'The Salon Group', which now had 3 salons.

When it came to evolving the Sarah Hodge Group, technology was the biggest and most obvious gap we found between working generations, it's one thing to know what social media is; it's another to know how to use it effectively to grow your business. Since taking over we've really upped the salons' social media focus, using Twitter and Facebook to communicate with our customers. We even have a Team Twitter profile where we post company updates and run daily competitions between our staff that not only increases sales but are great fun, too. We now also hold open forums for team members where they are able to express themselves and their ideas - it has proven to be successful and has definitely improved team morale.

Looking back, one of the most valuable lessons we have learnt is that both generations must be mindful of the other. We obviously want to push the business forward and remain abreast of trends, but we are conscious of the business we took over was a fantastic one that really works - it didn't need much to change. We respect that our parents have been through so much more than us and still have valuable opinions.

The Sarah Hodge Group is 25 years old this year - it serves as a great reminder to kn0ow how lucky we are to look after it, hopefully for at least another 25 years. One day our children will be in the same position as we are now and the business will continue to move from generation to the next.